2016 PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Calhoun Warriors

HARDIN — The goal for the Calhoun Warriors last season was to reestablish some relevance as a small-school football team that had taken on some hard times in recent history.

And when the Warriors snapped a four-season drought of sitting out the playoffs with a reappearance last season, now the objective is build off of the first playoff appearance since since 2010 after a 5-5 campaign last fall.

“I think they’re very hungry, that’s for sure,” said Calhoun coach Aaron Elmore, beginning his fourth season guiding the Warriors with a 10-18 mark the previous three seasons after going 27-22 at Beardstown in five seasons. “We had a very high level of attendance. Not many kids missed weightlifting at all this summer or even throughout the winter or the spring. I think our kids’ expectations are to be the best they can be. Hopefully when it’s all said and done at the end, we have a high number of wins and hopefully we get that home playoff game starting off whenever the playoffs start.

“For us, we have quite a few returners from last season. It’s not as difficult when you’re trying to replace a lot of guys. We’re trying to build upon those last couple games. We feel like we played our best football the last three weeks of the season. We kind of ran into a buzz-saw when we played Arcola (the defending Class 1A state champions), but the kids have been excited and worked hard in the offseason. We’re just looking to start where we left off last year. We’re moving in the right direction for sure.”

The Warriors, who open at Concord Triopia, lost 57-16 in the opening round of the playoffs last season in humbling fashion. But as bad as the result was then, Elmore feels it’s a good building block now.

“Any time that you get into the playoffs, you want more and more,” Elmore said. “For us, the bad thing was we had to play Arcola, but also the good thing was playing Arcola, we got to play the state champions. I can use that as motivation for our kids to know what level we have to play at in order to be successful and actually win against those tyoe of guys.

“We’ve got more kids out this year for football than in the four years that I’ve been here. I think the community and the kids are all excited. We’re looking to build upon what we did last year. We have 46 kids kids out, and four years ago when we started, we had 29. Each year we’ve gradually increased.”

Offensively, Elmore said the Warriors will run the flex bone and triple-option that may see Calhoun “deviate some things off of it,” Elmore said, “but there’s not going to be any surprises. Everybody knows what we’re going to do offensively. We have all of our skill kids back except our quarterback.”

The Warriors will have to replace starting QB Blake Booth, and Elmore said the competition will come down to seniors Easton Clark (5-foot-11, 156-pounds) and Tyler Webster (5-10, 159).

“He’s a skilled kid and has been a three-year starter on defense for us,” Elmore said of Clark. “He’s a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. He can do everything. He’s explosive and he’s a senior leader and he’s a co-captain. I’d say him or Tyler Webster. He’s a very gifted athlete as well. Won’t know until after the soap game.”

Senior fullback Wes Klocke (6-4, 178), who will be the No. 1 featured back, is poised for a great season. Seniors Ty Bick and Scott White will get ample action running the football, and Webster, who had 500-plus receiving yards and set a Calhoun record for receptions (30) in a season, along with senior Jared Brackett, will be the wideouts.

“We have all of our skilled kids back, plus there are some others that we feel are going to do very well for us as the season goes on and all five of our starting offensive linemen are back,” Elmore said. “These are kids that got a year older and they’re going to definitely partake in the offense.”

Defensively, Calhoun will rely on Clark and Webster on the corners, Klocke will man the safety position, and seniors Cody Gilman (6-4, 281) and Michael Finch (5-8, 270) will man the defensive tackles.

“I think we have nine returning starters on defense,” Elmore said. “Defensively, we’re pretty much going to build upon what we did last year towards the end of the year, and that’s just be aggressive on defense. We have a lot of experience back.”

Elmore said the road through the Western Illinois Valley (South) will go through Carrollton because “they’ve won it for several years in a row now.” But expect good things from Greenfield and WInchester, both playoff teams from a year ago, an improving North Greene and Pleasant Hill, which only won one game (against Calhoun).